ALUMNI STORIES

Dr. Mordechai “Mordy” Rosen is an award-winning physicist and researcherwhose groundbreaking work in plasma physics has shaped the future of clean energy. A fter graduating from the Hebrew University in 1972 graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a BSc  inBSc in Physics and Mathematics, Mordy went on to earn hiscompleted a PhD in Plasma Physics at from Princeton University. He is aA Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and a two-time recipient of its , he has won their Excellence in Plasma Physics Award:  twice;first in 1990, for designing the world’s first laboratory x-ray laser, and again in 2022, for achieving a burning plasma.
 

His most remarkable milestone to date came Mordy’s greatest accomplishment so far came in December 2022, when he Mordy and his team at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved fusion ignition, a breakthrough more than 50 years in the making and a first in the history of the first for the field. and the culmination of more than 50 years of work. This milestone is an advance forThis momentous achievement marks a critical step toward carbon-free, inherently safe fusion energy production.
 

The laser Mordy’s team used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)used for the experiment  iswas the size of three football fields, and it needed to concentrate on a tiny targethad to target a fuel capsule only 1 millimeter in size. The team managed to compress that tiny target to just y then imploded the target to the size of 50 microns - , which is the width of a human hair – creating conditions hotter than the sun and enabling the fuel to begin fusing, just like in the core of a star. For the first time, the reaction produced more energy than was used to spark it.
 

. It's like taking a basketball and squeezing it to the size of a little pea. By squeezing on this fuel so much it gets hotter than the sun and can start fusing like the sun.

Through fusion ignition, Mordy showed that it is possible to get more energy out than you put in. While this This technology is not yet ready to scalefor commercial use, but Mordy remains optimistic that the next generation will get us there.
 

is confident that it will come in the next generation.

Mordy began his studies at the Beginning his Hebrew University in degree in 1969, as part of the first class to return to the Mount Scopus campus. He fondly recalls the rigor of those years: “What I’ve learned is that the best physicists aren’t necessarily the most brilliant – they’re the ones who work the hardest. And boy, did we work hard at the Hebrew University!”
 

He credits perseverance and the support of others for his success, noting, Mordy’s class was the first to return to the Mount Scopus campus. He recalls the rigor of studying at the Hebrew University, adding that “what I've learned in life is that the best physicists are the ones who work the hardest, not the most brilliant, the ones who work the hardest. And boy, we worked hard.”
 

Mordy says that it” It helps if when people believe in you - , but the way that you get people toearn that beliefve is bythrough your accomplishments. His work has taken a lot of perseverance, but he notes that “fFailure, I’ve found, is the best way to learn something.”
 

Mordy chooses to be hopeful, both in his research and in all aspects of life.
 

Now At 73 years old, Mordy has no plans to retire.loves his work and doesn’t plan on retiring soon. His passion for discovery continues to drive him forward – and so does his enduring sense of hope.

 

To contact Mordy about his research he can be reached via email at rosen2@llnl.gov.